This application is based upon and claims benefit of priority of Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-34973 filed on Feb. 14, 2000, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wireless communication device such as a mobile telephone, and more particularly to such a device having a display panel.
2. Description of Related Art
Wireless communication devices such as mobile telephones and personal handy-phones (PHS) are widely used these days. In some types of the mobile telephones which are capable of receiving both voice calls and electronic mails, a device for notifying a user by a sound which one of the voice call or the electronic mail is being received is included. In this device, a first sound for notifying a user an arrival of a voice call (referred to as a call-arrival sound) and a second sound for notifying a user an arrival of an electronic mail (referred to as a mail-arrival sound) are provided, so that the user is able to differentiate by the sounds the call-arrival and the mail-arrival. Also, a group of sounds including sound patterns and/or melodies, each different from one another, are memorized in a memory, so that the user can select the first and second sounds from among the group of sounds according to his/her preference. The first and second sounds selected can be displayed on a display panel, and those can be changed to other ones by the user, if desired.
However, in such a conventional device, the first sound selected as the call-arrival sound and the second sound selected as the mail-arrival sound are not displayed on the same frame at the same time, but they are displayed one by one separately on respective frames. In other words, the user displays one frame for checking which sound is now selected as the call-arrival sound, and then the other frame for checking which sound is now selected as the mail-arrival sound. This is troublesome for the user.
The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide an improved communication device, in which both of the call-arrival sound and the mail-arrival sound selected are easily checked on a display panel and those are easily changed to other ones.
In a mobile telephone which is capable of receiving voice calls and electronic mails, a first sound notifying a user an arrival of a voice call (a call-arrival sound) and a second sound notifying an arrival of an electronic mail (a mail-arrival sound) are set in the telephone. Both of the call-arrival sound and the mail-arrival sound are selected according to the user""s preference from among a plurality of sounds stored in a memory. The plurality of sounds stored in the memory include a ground of sound patterns and a group of melodies.
When the user wants to confirm the sounds presently selected, the user pushes a key to display both of the call-arrival sound and the mail-arrival sound on a single display frame at the same time. To change the presently selected sounds to other sounds, the same display frame showing both of the selected sounds is used. The user inputs instructions from a key pad to change the presently selected sounds to new sounds.
Since both of the call-arrival sound and the mail-arrival sound are simultaneously displayed on a single frame, it is easy to confirm which sounds are presently selected. Further, since the same single display frame is used to change the presently selected sounds to another sounds, it is quite easy to make such changes. This invention is also applicable to other wireless communication devices than the mobile telephones.
Other objects and features of the present invention will become more readily apparent from a better understanding of the preferred embodiment described below with reference to the following drawings.